Furnace



L. DE FLOREZ FURNACE Filed July 13, 19:51

2 sheets-sheet? INVENTOR fsf/.s KQ

ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 29, I1935 .ik

UNITED sTATsSZ-Q f; PATENT OFFICE Texas Company, New York, N. Y., a corporationof Delaware v Application July 13, 1931, Serial No. 550,356 s claims. (C1. 122-356) My invention relates to furnaces, more partic- I have provided means whereby the tubes are ularly to tubular oil heaters used in processes in supported from their lower ends thus allowing volved in the heating and cracking of oils, and the entirel weight of the tubes to be carried by has for its principal object the provision of a the lower structure of the furnace while at the furnace of YtheLu'pshot type in which a iluid such` same time, provision is made to allow the tubes 5 as oil either .in liquid vor vaporous'formcan be to 'contract and expandV upwardly without thoroughly and uniformly heated in a minimum deformation.` By supporting the tubes at the of time. y bottom the furnace is rendered more stable and A further object. of my invention is the'v prothe expense of construction is minimized.

A 19 vision of novelsupporting.structure for the ver- For a better understanding of my invention 10 tical tubesfby means of which the weight of the reference may bev had tothe accompanying drawtubes is carried bythe lower supporting structure ings inwhich Fig. 1 is a vertical, sectional elevaof the furnace Vwhile provision is made for longition o f'a furnace embodying my invention; Fig. tudinal contraction and expansion of the tubes 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1 l5 caused by the heating and cooling thereof. looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 3 is 15 In vertical draft furnaces in which a pluralityv an enlarged view showing one form of construcoi parallel, heating tubes are arranged uniformly tion at the lower ends of the tubes; Fig. 4 is a around a heating llame it is sometimes diiiicult view taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 3, While Figs. 5, 6 to secure a uniformheating throughout the full and ,'7 arevdetail views of a modified form of tube length of the tubes. When the jet or flame is supports, Fig. 5 being a sectional elevation on 20 located atthe level'of the floor or lower wall of line 5-5 of Fig. 6, Fig. 6 a horizontal section on the heating chamber and the flame and hot line 6 6 of Fig. 5 and Fig. 7 a side elevation of products of combustion are directed upwardly the supporting ring. through the space surrounded by the vertical' Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, I have tubes, the lower portions of the tubes sometimes illustrateda vertical draft furnace of the upshot 25 remain cooler than the center or upper portions. type, having a iirebox 10, a vertical tube section Consequently it is essential that there be com- 11,- an economizer 12 andan air preheater 13. plete combustion of the gases near the'bottom of. Thejflrebox 10 is supported on a suitable base 14, the Vertical tube section with greater turbulence while a metal framework 15 serves to support the and mixture of the gases without impingement tube section l1 and the upper part of the furnace 30 of the ame on the tubes. Y structure. The tube sectionll comprises refrac- In carrying out my invention I have provided tory top, bottom and side wall defining a heating a burner mounted near the lower end of a rechamber 16, the side walls being provided with fractory well, preferably cylindrical or conical linings 1'7 of suitable heat insulating material.

85 in shape and arranged in a firebox below the The top wall 18 and the bottom Wall 19 are formed 35 oor or lower wall of the vertical tube section. of suitable heat resisting metal and leading up- Air to be burned with the fuel is admitted to the wardly from the center' of the top wall 18 is a rebox and passes upwardly to the burner. The flue 20, this flue serving to conduct the hot gasair for combustion, after entering the rebox sureous products of combustion from the heating 40 rounds the Welland tends to cool the latter. chamber 16 through the economizer section 12 40 With this construction the products of combusand then upwardly through a plurality of tubes tion are directed upwardly through the tube sec- 21 in the air preheater 13, after which the gases tion, this causing a uniform heat distribution to pass to a stack 22. It is to be understood that air the full length of the tubes since the temperatures for combustion enters the preheater 13 through at the inlet and outlet of the tubes are more' aninlet 23 after which it circulates back and 45 nearly equal. There will be greateruniform ra-v forth around suitable baflles 24 and the tubes 21, diation since the column produced by the prodnally leaving the preheater through the outlet ucts of combustion is at its maximum volume 25 and passing into the rebox 10 through an and regular in circumference in the lower porinlet v26. Inithe tube section 11 a plurality of 5G tion of the heating chamber.l heating tubes 2'Zare mounted and are supported 50 In furnaces of this type wherein the vertical from the bottom wall 19 in' a manner which will tubes are suspended from theirL upper extremities be described hereinafter. It is to be understood it is necessary to specially design the upper part that the tubes 2'7 are intended to be heated by of the furnace to take care of this added weight., means of a column of hot products of combustion 5 Therefore, in further carrying out my invention which passes upwardly through the center of the 55 chamber 16 and which is of a size and shape such that there will be no impingement of the name on the heating tubes.

It is quite common in a furnace of this general type to mount the burner or burners substantially at the level of the bottom wall such as the wall 19, or when mounting the burners below the level of the bottom wall, to make no provision for the admixture of airwith the gas or other fuel below the bottom wall to secure eflicient and complete initial combustion, so that the size of the hot products of combustion column will be as great in the lower portion of the chamber 16 as it will be at a point some considerable distance above the bottom wall. In carrying out my invention I have provided a refractory well 28 arranged within the nrcbox 10 and leading upwardly to the center of the lower wall 19. The well 28 is preferably of a frustro-conical shape and is formed of a layer or layers of suitable refractory material supported by a shell 29 of heat resistant metal.`

At points located near the lower end of the well 28 I have provided a plurality of burners' 30, these burners being connected to a ring or conduit 31 and entering the well 28 substantially tangentially of the surface thereof as shown more clearly in Fig. 2. The ring 31 is adapted to be connected to a suitable sourceof fuel supply such as gas or fuel oil by means of a pipe 32. Due to the tangential arrangement of the burners 30 the, fuel entering the well will, in burning, pass upwardly, therethrough in a spiral, thus increasing the turbulence and providing a more intimate mixture. 'Ihe air entering the firebox 10 through inlet 26 will pass upwardly into the lower end of the well 28 where it will be burned with the gas at the burners 30. The air entering the firebox will circulate around the outer surface of the shell 29 and will have a cooling effect on the' well 28. While I have illustrated burners suitable for gas or liquid fuel, it is to be .understood that my invention is not to be limited thereto since burners for injecting powdered fuel can readily be used in place of the burners 30. It will be observed that by locating the burners 30 at a point below the levelof the bottom wall 19 the column ofrhot products of combustion will reach substantially its maximum diameter in the lower portion of the chamber 16 and consequently the lower portions of the tubes 27 will receive the benefit of this large column and the tubes will be heated quite uniformly throughout their entire lengths.

In furnaces of this general type it is quite common to suspend the vertical tubes from their upper ends and to have no rigid contact between the lower ends of the tubes and the bottom wall of the furnace, thus providing for expansion and contraction of the tubes due to heat variations. However, with such a construction it is necessary that the upper part of the furnace, where the top ends of the tubes are located, be of heavy construction in order to withstand the total weight of the tubes. In order to do away with the necessity for this heavy construction I have provided novel mounting means for the tubes 27 by means of which the entire weight of the tubes is transmitted directly to the bottom wall 19 of the tube section and thus to the lower supporting framework or structure of the furnace. I have illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 one form of supporting structure and in Figs. 5, 6 and 7 a modified form.

With reference to Figs. 3 and 4 I have provided each tube'27 at a point near the lower end thereof with an annular groove 33 and a washer ele- `from one tube to another.

ment 34 formed of two similar sections is arranged to be partially inserted in this groove. A ring or flanged member 35 has a sliding engagement with the tube 27 and is adapted to rest upon the upper surface of the bottom wall 19 and surround a hole 36 through which the tube 27 may be inserted. One side of the ring member 35 is cut out asshown at'37 and is adapted to encompass the two sections of the washer element 34 after -suitable junction boxes 38 are provided, these boxes being adapted to engage the extremities of the tubes and each box having a chamber 39 through which thefluid to be heated ispassed The junction boxes are preferably provided with plugs 40 which may be removed to permit the cleaning of the tubes 27. The lower ends of the tubes 27 and the junction boxes 38 are contained within an annular chamber 41 secured to the underside of the bottom wall 19. The annular chamber 41` is provided with a removable closure member`42 so that access may -be had to the junction boxes. The -upper ends of the tubes 27 pass through openings, not shown, in the top wall 18 of the heating chamber and have a sliding fit in the top'wall so that the tubes may freely expand or contract in a vertical direction due to heat variations. The upper ends of the tubes 27 are provided with similar junction boxes 43, these boxes being contained within an annular chamber 44 provided with a removable closure 45 to allow access to the junction boxes.

It is to be understood that the uid to be heated enters the economizer 12 through an inlet 46 and after being heated in the tubes 47 leaves the economizer through an outlet 48 and passes directly to one or more of the heating tubes 27.

In Figs. 5, 6, and 7 I have shown a modified form of supporting means for the tubes 27. In this form a washer element 49 is rigidly secured to a tube 27 such as by welding at 50. `A flanged or wheel-shaped member 51 formed of two sections 51a and 51h is adapted to rest upon the bottom wall 19 in a manner similar to that described with reference to the ring member 35 shown in Fig. 3, while the washer 49 is adapted to be supported in a cutout portion 52. The sections 51a and- 'described hereinbefore.,` A cutout portion 55 is also provided in the lower part of the member 51 and a flange 56 is thus left on which the washer 49 serving the tube 27 is supported. It

will thus be' seen that the Weight of the tubes 27 is transmitted'through the washer 49 and member l to the bottom wall 19 of the'heating chamber 16. A suitable packing 57 such as asbestos rope may be placed in the space 55, this packing servingvto prevent gases from leaking out of the heating chamber 16 around the tube 27.

Obviously many modifications and variations tioned on the bottom tube near its lower of the invention, as hereinbefore set forth, may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, and therefore on'ly such limitations should be imposed as are indicated in the appended claims. 1 I claim: 1. In a furnace for heating fluids, heat refractory top, bottom and side walls defining a heating chamber, a heating coil comprising 'a plurality of interconnected tubes disposed vertically in said chamber and passing through said top and bottom walls, and means for supporting each of said tubes only from the bottom 'wall comprising an element adapted to be amxed to the outside of each tube and a ring memberpositioned on the lower wall of said chamber and adapted to be engaged by and support said element.

2. In a furnace for heating liquids, heat refractory top, bottom and side walls defining a heating chamber, a heating coil comprising a plurality of interconnected tubes disposed` vertically in said chamber and passing through said top and bottom walls. and means for supporting each of said tubes only from the bottom wall comprising a washer element adapted to be aihxed to each end, and a hanged member adapted to engage said element and posiwall of said chamber so that the weight of said tubes will be transmitted to said bottom wall through said washer elements and said anged members.

3. In a furnace for heating fluids, heat refractory top, bottom and side walls defining a heating chamber, a heating coil comprising a plurality oi' interconnected tubes disposed vertically in said chamber and passing through said top and bottom walls, and means for supporting each of said tubes only from the bottom wall comprising a sectional washer element, each of said tubes being provided with a circumferential groove near its lower end to engage said element and a anged member adapted to support said washer element and rest upon the bottom wall of said chamber.

4. In a furnace for heating liquids, heat refracl tory top, bottom and side walls defining a heating chamber, a heating coil comprising a plurality of interconnected tubes disposed vertically in said chamber and passing through said top and bottom walls, and means for supporting each of said tubes only from the bottom wall comprising a tubes for preventing the washer element adapted to be aiilxed to each tube near its lower end, and a flanged member resting on the bottom wall of said chamber and adapted to surround and support said washer element and said tube.

5. In a liquid heating furnace, top, bottom and side walls defining a cylindrical heating chamber, a plurality of heating tubes disposed aroundthe inside of said side walls, each of said tubes passing through said top and bottom walls and means for supporting said tubes only on the bottom wall of said chamber comprising a washer element adapted to be alxed to each of said tubes at a point near its lower end, a sectional flanged member resting on said bottom wall and adapted to engage and support said element and said tube, means for holding the sections of said flanged member together, and means associated with said member for holding a packing material in engagement with said lbottom wall and said tube. x

6. In an apparatus for heating fluids, a heating chamber, vertical heat absorbing tubes positioned in said chamber, the ends of said tubes passing through and extending outside of the chamber at the bottom thereof and means surrounding said passage of gases between the heating chamber and the outside thereof, said means resting upon the bottom of said chamber forv supporting the tubes.

7. In an apparatus for heating fluids, a heating chamber, vertical heat absorbing tubes positioned in said chamber, the ends of said tubes passing through and chamber at the bottom thereof and a ring having an asbestos packing surrounding said tubes passing through said chamber to prevent the passage of `gases between the heating chamber and the outsidethereof, said ring resting upon the bottom of said chamber for supporting the tubes.

8. In a furnace for heating uids. heat refractory top, bottom and side walls defining a heating chamber, a heating coil comprising a plurality of interconnected tubes disposed vertically in said chamber and passing through said top and bottom walls, and means for supporting each of said tubes from the bottom wall, said means providing a seal between the heating chamber and the outside thereof to prevent the passage of gases therebetween.

LUIS nl FLOREZ.

extending outside of the. 

